Dear Editor,
I like to watch the Olympics. Would even go so far as to say “I love the Olympics.” All those healthy, fit young people running and jumping and swimming and throwing and kicking with and against one another in order to earn medals and ensure they get lots of endorsements once the games are finished.
And of course represent their country, make their fellow citizens proud.
Not as proud as the United States or China or the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee). They are the top medal winners at the time of this writing.
Canada is down the list a few places with less than 20 medals 12 days into the games, most of them won by women; notwithstanding the two medals won by sprinter Andre De Grasse on Wednesday, causing him to lie on the track in disbelief after his first place finish, although he must have noticed that there was no one in front of him when he crossed the finish line.
We probably could enhance our status in the quadrennial if we concentrated on what you might call lower profile sports: table tennis, for instance, or what we used to call ping pong, especially with the long cold winters most of Canada experiences. Stuck indoors much of the time what better way to enhance our ping pong skills than to practice for four months in the basement.
And golf, who doesn’t golf? Surely to God, we could produce some decent golfers from among the tens of thousands who hit the links every weekend.
How about the equestrian events? We have loads of horse lovers in this country, though I am not one of them. I’m sure we could put together a team of cowboys to maybe win a bronze medal.
And why isn’t poker an Olympic sport? It’s on the sports channel. I’m sure Gamblers Anonymous could come up with enough names to put together a couple teams.
Or darts, a Legion staple? Shuffleboard? Billiards? Floor hockey? Lawn bowling? Bocce?
Ordinary citizens should be allowed more input into the structure of the games because, if I’m not mistaken, isn’t it taxpayers’ money that foots the bill for all this sweaty tomfoolery?
Who else is going to pay for all those designer sunglasses and those nice uniforms the athletes wear, although I personally wouldn’t mind paying for the outfits of the women’s beach volleyball players.
Nevertheless, the big show will be over in another few days, and I’ll be suffering from withdrawal and have to go into rehab to help cure my Olympic addiction, cause I know that Blue Jays aren’t just going to cut it.
Tim Tyler, Maple Ridge
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